


From the Outside

by Ghostietea



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Character Study, Fruits basket spoilers, Gen, Gratuitous internal monologue, Hana's thoughts on the curse because she definitely knows something, I love Hana, Light Angst, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Vingettes, partially postcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24362380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostietea/pseuds/Ghostietea
Summary: It was inescapable, there was just something awry in the Sohma's waves. Hana could ignore it at first, when it was just Yuki and he was just a stranger. But when Tohru pulled both him and Kyo into her world, feigning ignorance was… more complicated.
Relationships: Hanajima Saki & Honda Tohru & Uotani Arisa, Hanajima Saki & Sohma Akito
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: One shots





	From the Outside

It was inescapable, there was just something awry in the Sohma's waves. Hana could ignore it at first, when it was just Yuki and he was just a stranger. But when Tohru pulled both him and Kyo into her world, feigning ignorance was… more complicated. The prince had guarded waves like calm, deep water: strong and quiet with dark things hidden far below. The orange one was almost opposite, brash, loud and chaotic like a stormy sea, all of his grievances clamoring to the surface. But, despite their differences, they both shared the same indescribable oddness. Hana had tried to put her finger on it, but failed. Their waves were both human and not, both young and terribly, indescribably old. There was something off, that was for sure. The adult Sohma, Shigure, was like that too. His waves were like a spring rain, light and annoying with the promise that it could become heavier at a moment's notice, and just as strange as the others'. She couldn't help but wonder if they might be like her, cursed or magical in some way, but they didn't seem like they'd be divulging that anytime soon. Hana couldn't shake the feeling that Tohru knew. That girl had something with them that no one else did, a secret ticket to see what was behind the curtain. Hana could see it; in the way Tohru tensed up and started babbling when Hana got a little to close to asking what was up, in the way she never said much about the Sohmas, in the way the boys seemed more comfortable around her. It worried Hana that Tohru could somehow get in too deep, but she wasn't going to pry (too much). The Sohma boys had their secrets and she had hers, she could respect that.

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Spring brought a new school year, and with it new Sohmas. The blonde one felt like a bubbly stream, bright and youthful but surprisingly resilient, and the punk was like a riptide, deceptively calm until it pulled you out to sea. It seemed like the higher concentration of Sohmas only fed the uneasiness that Hana felt. They were good kids, and she liked their company (even if she wouldn't admit it), but still. Sometimes the waves filled her head, making her feel like she was underwater and overwhelming her senses until she couldn't even tell if they were _human_ anymore. It was… disconcerting. 

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It was a few seasons before Hana met another Sohma. They had come to see their play, two little ones that were too far to get a read on and… him. Kyo's dad was remarkable to her, not because he was handsome (though teasing Kyo was ever so fun), but because he was _normal._ He was so unambiguously human it almost felt wrong. If he was normal, than it wasn't the whole family. She'd almost written it off as a familial trait, some shared wavelength that she just wasn't used to. But if it was just a few, well, curiouser and curiouser. 

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Hana was worried about Tohru. She'd been crying earlier, waves in disarray, when Hana had taken her from the frigid streets. The explanation she'd given was about Kureno, some man that Uo liked, but Hana knew that it ran a lot deeper. Tohru had just been getting more and more entangled in the Sohma's spider web of secrets, and Hana was helpless to save her. Ever since summer there had been a heavy cloud in her waves, and it was just getting darker. Hana glanced down at Tohru from were she sat next to her. She was lying peacefully next to Uo, the warm light in Hana's room highlighting her sleep soft face. Tohru was so precious, so _good_ , Hana knew she was strong but couldn't help worrying. A desperate, anxious feeling had settled over her, like she knew something was about to go wrong but not what or how to stop it. Tohru rolled over in her sleep, giggling and startling Hana out of her trance. _Classic Tohru_. She leaned over and softly brushed a lock of brown hair from Tohru's face. "Please darling, stay safe." Hana whispered quietly, a tiny prayer all her own.

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Momiji was different. One day he just came to school so completely normal and so completely abnormal from what he had been. Hana said nothing. What could she have said?

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Something did happen to Tohru. Hana expected it, but that didn't make it hurt any less. It all came crashing down one dark afternoon, when Yuki called to say that Tohru was unconscious in the hospital after _falling off a damn cliff_. Something about having an argument with Kyo and running off into the woods when a ledge gave way and crumbled. Apparently one of the Sohmas had been with her when she fell and went to get help, but Hana couldn't help thinking what could have happened if she had been alone. Her Tohru lying on the cold earth while the day grew old and the warmth bled from her body and nobody would even know, and no one would find her, and- Well, even now her state was shaky. After she got the call Hana crumpled to the floor, arms wrapped around herself like she might fall apart. She didn't even cry, just sat there numbly until Megumi came to get her for dinner. Whatever secrets the Sohmas had, Tohru did get in too deep. She'd been carrying their burdens for so long and then she got hurt, and _Hana didn't even know what was wrong to have a chance to help her_. She felt helpless and tiny, seeing the end with no way to stop it. She could only hope that Tohru ended up okay, that was all anyone could do anymore.

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Hana cried when she saw Tohru again. Tohru just smiled and pulled her into her arms and held her tight. Hana felt warm and sunny inside, like whatever ice that had been building in her chest since she first met the Sohmas had melted. It somehow felt okay, like whatever was happening was coming to a close. At least for now, everything was fine.

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The new Sohma had waves like a lightning storm, turbulent and dangerous and captivating, with an overwhelming sadness hidden under the bombast. Hana knew they were Sohma as soon as she saw them in the hospital hall. She didn't know how to explain it, but this person was even more Sohma than the rest of them. Their waves felt different, somehow more, well… human, yet also more deeply unnatural than the others ever were. Still, it was definitely the same brand of off-ness as the other Sohma. If the others' waves were laced with threads of the supernatural, this one's waves were practically choked with them. Hana couldn't shake the feeling that, whatever was up with the Sohmas, this person was the center of it. Hana watched the newcomer intently as they hesitantly walked up to her and Uo, figeting with the edges of their dark shirt like they felt uncomfortable. _Interesting_ , Hana thought, _I may find out what's really going on yet_.

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One day, it all stopped. It went the same way as everything else, suddenly and without Hana's knowledge or help. She could no longer pick up any trace of the abnormality in any of the Sohma's waves. Not Yuki, Kyo, Haru, Shigure, or the person she'd come to know as Aa-chan. All that was left was a sense of emptiness.

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It had been almost a year since the end and Hana still had no idea what had happened. She was visiting Tohru in her new apartment, braiding her friend's hair on the couch while some tv show played dully in the background. (It felt like home.)

"So much has changed." Tohru said wistfully, stopping Hana's zone out session.

"Hm, yes, but at least I still have you, and Uo, and the others." Hana paused for a second "Not that I've made peace with you guys moving so far away." She ruffled Tohru's hair affectionately, essentially ruining all her progress. 

"Hehe, yeah. Moving out, everyone growing up, being with Kyo, everything is different."

"And the Sohmas." Hana added quietly, cautiously. She saw Tohru's shoulders stiffen.

"Huh? I, uh.. well I…." Tohru rambled. "Oh no! Our popcorn's burning!" She exclaimed before clumsily hopping up and scrambling to the kitchen. The popcorn was burning, but Hana knew why she left. Even when Hana had felt so helpless in whatever was going on , she still didn't want to push Tohru too far. Hana didn't even know why she tried it. She supposed Tohru didn't think it was her secret to tell. When Tohru dejectedly wandered back in (she hadn't been able to save the food), Hana happily restarted the conversation. She wasn't ever going to find out what happened from Tohru, but maybe, just maybe, that didn't mean someone else wouldn't tell her.

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"Psychic powers, huh? I knew you had the wave thing going on, but not to this extent." 

"Yes, it's true. Not many quite realize the reach of my abilities." Hana said, carefully shifting the way she was sitting so her legs wouldn't fall asleep. "But you're no stranger to the supernatural, are you?"

The other girl turned away from Hana and looked outside, leaning against the open window, but they were still sitting close enough that Hana could see her guarded expression just fine. "Why are you expecting me to know about whatever nonsense you're talking about." 

Hana moved so that her shoulder was resting against the window frame, keeping her demeanor relaxed so as not to spook her skittish friend. "Really, _Aa-chan_ , playing hard to get? Akito looked for a second like she was going to fire some snappy retort back at Hana, but then she softened. "Did you tell me all of that you could manipulate me into telling you… whatever it is you want to know?" She said quietly.

"I think you're taking my actions as far more cunning than they actually are," Hana replied, "it's more like… I wanted you to know you could trust me."

Akito looked at her, dark eyes wide and almost vulnerable, before quickly turning away from Hana and crossing her arms over her chest like the brat she was. "I still have no idea what you're talking about, how do I know you're not just teasing me again Hana-chan?" 

_Trying to find out what I know already, huh_. Hana thought, _Well, I'm fine with that_. "You Sohmas, there was something off in your waves. An ancient presence, strange, almost inhuman." Akito was gazing at Hana over her shoulder now, arms uncrossed as she preoccupied herself instead with twisting the end of her long kimono sleeve around her fingers. "There was something going on with you and some of your cousins, whatever it was Tohru-kun knew too, and I could tell something was off but not what. Hana paused for a second. "It.. worried me but around the time Tohru-kun left the hospital it just stopped, gone." 

The room went very silent for a moment. Akito still had her back to Hana and had stopped looking at her, Hana couldn't see her face but she had gone very still. 

"And you never said anything, to anyone?" Akito inquired quietly. 

"Not even Tohru-kun really."

Akito moved so she was facing Hana again, her mood shifting "Interesting then, you're very perceptive." she said in a darkly playful way, like someone about to invite you to hunt for a ghost in an abandoned building. Akito leaned in further to whisper in her ear, so close that her short hair tickled Hana's cheek. "You want to hear a secret?"

Hana smiled "Well of course, a secret for a secret."

The other gave a small laugh of approval "Long ago, God told the animals-"

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about how postcanon Hana might learn about the curse and then my eyes shot WIDE OPEN and I was like "WHAT IF" and the scene at the very end beamed itself directly into my head. If you want to talk to me I'm @ ghostietea on Twitter. I appreciate any comment or kudos!


End file.
